Consolidated consumer rewards systems and methods with card vendor integration

ABSTRACT

A consumer tracking and rewards system and related methods that provide for consolidating two or more merchant-branded rewards accounts into a single source. A single unique identifier referred to as a consumer number used to track and credit purchases with respect to multiple retail establishments. The consumer number may exist simply as a data element in the system or may be printed, bar coded, or programmed onto any physical medium or device. Components of the system include a consumer rewards platform, a merchant-consumer rewards system and potentially a card vendor system. The consumer rewards platform facilitates communication and the transfer of data between the various components of the system. A cross-reference between single consumer numbers and one or more merchant rewards program numbers is used to accommodate the trading and linking of information among participating merchants. Consumers may communicate with the various system components through a consumer web portal. A website is also available to merchants so they may view statistical information regarding rewards program participation.

RELATED APPLICATIONS

There are no pending applications related to this application.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present disclosure relates, generally, to consumer rewards, loyaltyand membership programs, and more particularly, to a consumer trackingand rewards system and method of updating, managing, and storing recordsof consumer information, including demographic data and purchases withmultiple merchants and establishments.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Consumer rewards, loyalty and membership programs are programs sponsoredby merchants, services, corporations or clubs as marketing programs thatprovide consumers with incentives for repeat business, for example tocontinue purchasing from a particular merchant by providing the consumerwith a number of reward or loyalty points based on the number of dollarsspent with the merchant. The points may be redeemed by the consumer forcash, merchandise, coupons, or discounts once the consumer has reached acertain point threshold. These programs are typically implemented bymerchants asling consumers to complete a paper or online application atthe point of sale or elsewhere and thereby issuing the consumer amerchant-branded rewards card which the consumer must present withpayment at the time of each purchase with the retailer in order toobtain reward points for their purchases. Under this current systemthere are inefficiencies for both consumer and merchant.

The first issue affecting the consumer is that in order to enroll in amerchant rewards program, the consumer must complete an application,usually in paper form, and usually at the point of sale. Many consumersmay consider this a hassle and may choose not to participate. Otherconsumers may also view this as an unnecessary step in the point of saleprocess causing a delay in each consumer's transaction time.

Another problem affecting the consumer is that consumers, who choose toenroll in a multitude of merchant rewards programs, are expected tocarry a separate card for each merchant or rewards program for which theconsumer is enrolled. If the consumer does not have the rewards card atthe time of a purchase, the consumer may not receive the point rewardsfor the purchase and the merchant misses an opportunity to gain valuabledemographic and consumer spending data.

Merchants also encounter difficulties under the current system. Thecurrent system can be very expensive to implement, thus eliminating theoption for smaller merchants to offer a rewards program. Largermerchants may not see as much return on investment because the processis so cumbersome for consumers to join and participate. Much of themerchant benefit is lost if consumers are not likely to enroll or tocarry and use the rewards card. The terms “rewards”, “loyalty” and“membership” are used synonymously herein, and include and mean anyprogram or plan whereby a consumer of goods or services is acknowledgedor rewarded or recognized for his or her purchases from a business suchas a retailer or service provider. For example, a consolidated consumerrewards system may include any program which enables, acknowledges,rewards (monetarily or otherwise) or tracks the purchases of anyconsumer of any goods or services. As used herein, the term “merchant”refers to any provider or seller of any goods or services, whetherretail, wholesale or business-to-business. As used herein, the term“consumer” means any purchaser of goods or services, whether anyindividual or business entity, or for personal or commercial use.

A problem affecting both merchants and consumers is that consumersrarely update their addresses with merchants. If a consumer moves to anew address they may not receive the coupons, catalogs, and otherincentives that are often mailed to the consumer to encourage them tovisit the merchant. Merchants therefore spend money mailing thesecoupons and catalogs to the wrong people and consumers do not see thebenefits they were promised.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The invention provides a consolidated consumer rewards system for theadministration of multiple consumer rewards programs of multiplemerchants In accordance with one aspect of the disclosure and invention,there is provided a consumer rewards platform that is configured andprogrammed to maintain multiple consumer numbers which are used toenroll multiple consumers in multiple consumer rewards programs andaccount for all purchasing activity which affects any of the multipleconsumer rewards programs. The consumer rewards platform is operativelyconnected to multiple merchant-consumer rewards platforms that havecontent which defines criteria for enrolling and rewarding consumers forpurchases and maintaining records of consumer purchasing and awardsactivity. A unique consumer number is assigned to each consumer forenrollment in the consumer rewards system and is used by theconsolidated consumer rewards platform to track all enrollment andpurchasing activity for processing by the consolidated consumer rewardssystem. The consumer rewards platform is also operatively connected to acard vendor system, which provides a card vendor payment device foreffecting a payment transaction for a purchase in association with aunique payment account in the card vendor system. The card vendor systemmaintains a link between the unique consumer number and the card vendorpayment device so that each time the card vendor payment device is usedwith one of the multiple merchants the payment transaction is associatedwith the unique consumer number. Within the consolidated consumerrewards system, multiple consumers may enroll in multiple consumerrewards programs and receive rewards from each of the consumer rewardsprogram of each of the multiple merchants by transfer of information onconsumer activity from the multiple merchant consumer rewards platformsto the consolidated consumer rewards platform.

The present disclosure and related inventions overcome the disadvantagesof current rewards, loyalty and membership systems, and provides avastly improved system to the benefit of both merchants and consumers.It allows users the opportunity to quickly enroll in one or moremerchant-consumer rewards programs without the need to carry a multitudeof consumer-branded rewards cards. It also helps the merchant byproviding improved demographic information and a less expensive methodfor implementing a merchant-consumer rewards system.

DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram of one embodiment of a consolidatedconsumer rewards system containing a consumer rewards platform componentand a merchant-consumer rewards system component and;

FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram of a second embodiment of a consolidatedconsumer rewards system containing a consumer rewards platformcomponent, a merchant-consumer rewards system component, and a cardvendor component;

FIG. 3 is a block diagram of a representative consumer rewards platformintegration with a corporate merchant-consumer rewards system;

FIGS. 4A-4D illustrate representative user interface screens a consumerwould use to interact with the consumer rewards platform via theinternet.

FIG. 5 is a block diagram illustrating a representative method ofcommunication between consumers, merchants, card vendors, and a consumerrewards platform;

FIG. 6 illustrates representative merchant metrics displayed through aweb-based user interface.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF PREFERRED AND ALTERNATE EMBODIMENTS

FIG. 1 illustrates a system 100 (hereinafter referred to as“consolidated consumer rewards system 100”) representing the presentdisclosure and related inventions to implement the disclosure. In thisembodiment, a single, unique consumer identifier or consumer number 108(hereinafter referred to as “consumer number 108”) is used to track andcredit purchases of a consumer 106 with respect to multiple retailestablishments, membership organizations, employers, governmentinstitutions, financial institutions, airlines, hotels, colleges anduniversities, or any other business entity (hereinafter referred toalternatively or collectively as “merchants”). The consumer number 108may be any unique numeric, alphabetic or alphanumeric series of anylength. The consumer number 108 may exist simply as a data element inthe system 100 or may be printed, bar coded, or programmed onto anyphysical medium or device, as schematically represented in FIG. 1.Examples of various kinds of media which can be used to carry theconsumer number 108 for an individual consumer include, but are notlimited to, a magnetic strip, any type of digital storage device, aSmartCard, a credit or debit card, bar code, or radio frequencyidentification (RFID) tag. The consolidated consumer rewards system 100has two main components: the consumer rewards platform 102, thatcontains, among other things, consumer rewards services 116, a consumerrewards database 114, a merchant portal 112, a consumer portal 110; andmerchant-consumer rewards system 104. While only a singlemerchant-consumer rewards system 104 is shown in FIG. 1, it isunderstood that the consolidated consumer rewards system 100 isconfigured and designed to accommodate multiple merchant-consumerrewards systems for multiple merchants, as further described. It shouldalso be noted that the merchant-consumer rewards system 104 as describedherein refers to a combination of merchant rewards services and merchantpoint of sales (POS) systems. The term ‘platform’ is used herein todescribe an operating environment, under which various smallerapplication programs can be designed to run. The term ‘system’ as usedherein refers to a working combination of hardware, software and datacommunications devices which are configured and programmed with thedescribed features to perform the described functions.

In an alternate embodiment of the present disclosure, illustrated inFIG. 2, the consumer number 108 is integrated with a card vendor system118. A card vendor may be any payment, credit, debit or electronic fundstransfer transaction facilitator. Examples include, but are not limitedto, American Express, MasterCard, Visa or any other form of electronicpayment or transaction system. In this embodiment, when a cardholderuses the payment card 16 of a card vendor which is linked to theconsumer number 108 at a participating merchant to pay for atransaction, the rewards associated with that purchase willautomatically be applied to the consumer/cardholder's merchant rewardsaccount by the fact that the consumer number 108 is linked in the system100 to the card vendor card and to the merchant-consumer rewards system104. In this embodiment, in addition to the consumer rewards platform102 and the merchant-consumer rewards system 104, the card vendor system118 has been added as another component in the overall consolidatedconsumer rewards system 100.

The data stored within the consumer rewards platform 102 is contained ina consumer rewards database 114. This consumer rewards database 114contains information relating to consumers, merchants, merchant rewardsprograms, and in the embodiment of FIG. 2, card vendors. Informationgets added, deleted, or updated to the consumer rewards database 114based on the consumer rewards card platform 102 interactions withseveral data sources including the merchant-consumer rewards system 104,card vendor system(s) 118, and consumer input received through aconsumer web portal 110 (“consumer portal 110”). Every participatingconsumer and merchant is assigned a unique alphanumeric ID and theconsumer rewards database 114 maintains a cross-reference relationshipor link between the consumer numbers 108 and merchant rewards accountnumbers to facilitate the trading and linking of data with merchants, asfurther described.

As depicted in FIG. 3, the consumer rewards platform 102 communicateswith merchants at the corporate level via the corporatemerchant-consumer rewards system 302. The corporate merchant-consumerrewards system 302 contains rewards program logic and master customerdata including demographic information, transaction history, and totalcustomer rewards points. This information gets stored in the merchantrewards data database 308. The rewards systems that are located at eachmerchant location 304 contain a subset of the information contained inthe corporate merchant-consumer rewards system 302. The same informationis collected but the data residing on the individual merchant-consumerrewards system 304 encompasses only information regarding customers whoshop at that particular location. The rewards system at a merchantlocation 304 and the local POS system 306 work in tandem to collect,store, update, and manage rewards data on a local basis. Thisinformation is periodically sent to the corporate merchant-consumerrewards system 302 so that the master information is kept up to date.Similarly, when the consumer rewards platform 102 receives informationrelating to customer demographic changes or any additions or deletionsfrom the rewards program, the consumer rewards platform 102 relays thatinformation to the corporate merchant-consumer rewards system 302, whoin turn sends the information to the appropriatemerchant-consumer-rewards system 304.

The corporate merchant-consumer rewards system 302 can also beprogrammed to handle ‘automatic enrollment’, which allows consumers toenroll in a merchant rewards program by simply expressing an interest injoining the program and by presenting his/her consumer number 108 to theparticipating merchant. When the merchant receives and enters theconsumer number 108 (for example by entering or scanning the consumerrewards number 108), logic is set up in the merchant rewards database308 to recognize and credit new consumers using a consumer number thatis not immediately recognized at the point of purchase. Themerchant-consumer rewards system 302 will accept the purchase and querythe consumer rewards platform 102 to match the consumer number 108 withthe consumer's demographic information for purchase credit oracknowledgement. This enables sharing of consumer information with allmerchants where the consumer conducts business. The merchant rewards/POSsystem 304, 306, in conjunction with the consumer rewards platform 102,will also have the ability to: complete the checkout process and storethe points/money added into the rewards program for a given consumernumber (this might include entering or scanning the rewards card numberthrough a barcode reader); join to a rewards program for the first timeor by using an existing rewards account number; process a demographicupdate from the consumer rewards platform; update the consumer rewardsplatform 102 with rewards account number changes; update the POS systemwith consumer rewards un-subscription details; update the POS systemwith a consumer's link details; and update the POS system with aconsumer's unlink details.

The consumer rewards platform 102 interacts directly with consumers viaa consumer web portal (“consumer portal” 110). Representative interfacesand online forms for data entry by a consumer, as may be implemented forexample on one or more pages of a website, for interaction with and useof the consumer rewards platform 102 are illustrated in FIGS. 4A-4D. Theconsumer would first register online to access the website of theconsumer rewards platform 102. FIG. 4A gives a representative example ofa typical registration screen display or webpage 400. It requires theconsumer to enter his or her consumer number in field 402, e-mailaddress in field 404, choose and verify a password in fields 406 408,and enter a zip code in field 410. When the consumer clicks on the‘submit’ button 412, an e-mail is automatically sent to the consumerverifying the request for registration. Once the consumer confirms, hemay proceed to the consumer rewards platform home page 414 (FIG. 4B) tologin to the website and access the consumer rewards platform 102.Referring to FIG. 4B, the consumer is required to enter his username infield 416 and password in field 418. Once the consumer clicks on the‘login’ button 420, the username/password combination are authenticatedby the consumer rewards platform 102 and if valid, the user will gainaccess to the website.

There are several services available on the website to facilitaterewards account management by the consumer. One service provided to theconsumer via the consumer web portal 110 is the option to add or deletemembership in any particular merchant rewards program. A representativescreen presenting this service is shown in FIG. 4C. When the consumerselects this option, the linking/unlinking page for merchant rewardprograms will appear for example in the form of page 422. This screendisplay will contain a list of participating merchants in a column orfield 424, a corresponding list of merchant rewards program names incolumn or field 426, a link status list in column or field 428 which mayinclude selectable/de-selectable check boxes, and list of accountnumbers in column or field 430 corresponding to each merchant program426, with multiple fields 434 for entry of corresponding accountnumbers. To add a merchant rewards program, the consumer will simplyclick on the ‘link status’ checkbox 432 next to the appropriate merchantprogram. Any program that the consumer is currently enrolled in willhave a check in the link box 432 next to that program. To removemembership in one of the programs, the consumer will click on thecheckbox 432 thus toggling the checkbox to an off position at whichpoint it will display an empty checkbox. When the selections and entriesare completed, clicking on the ‘submit’ button 436 sends the informationto the consumer rewards platform 102 for processing of rewards pointsfor future transactions in accordance with the input data.

Another service provided to the consumer through the consumer portal 110is the option to link an existing merchant rewards account to thesingle, unique consumer number 108. FIG. 4D illustrates a representativeuser interface screen 438 by which this aspect of the system can beaccomplished. Similar to the add/delete membership screen represented byFIG. 4C, the link existing membership screen 438 also displaysparticipating merchants in column or field 440, corresponding rewardsprograms in column or field 442, link status in column or field 444 andaccount numbers in column or field 446. To link an existingrewards/rewards account to a consumer number, the consumer will berequired to locate the participating merchant from the merchant list infield 440, select the corresponding rewards program name from the listin field 442, click on the link status checkbox in field 448, enter theold rewards account number into the account number dialog box 450, andclick the ‘submit’ button 452. The information will be saved in theconsolidated consumer rewards database 114 and the consumer number 108will be cross-referenced with the old rewards account number.

In the alternate embodiment of the disclosure wherein the consumernumber 108 is associated with a payment card (i.e., any card or paymentsystem administered by a card vendor), the consumer rewards platform 102serves as middleware for communications between merchants, consumers,and card vendors. The consumer rewards platform 102 receives informationdirectly from each party to the process (consumers, merchants, and cardvendors) either through EDI or via the internet or other network, asshown, for example, in FIG. 5. Information sent between themerchant-consumer rewards system 104, card vendor system 118 and theconsumer rewards platform 102 can be sent via an asynchronous EDI batchtransfer 510. The information being sent between the consumer 106 andthe consumer rewards platform 102 is sent over the Internet through theconsumer access web portal 512.

Referring back to FIG. 2, the consumer rewards platform 102 makes anumber of services available that help to facilitate requests forinformation between the various parties to the system (these servicesare additionally described in FIG. 1 for the consumer rewardsplatform/merchant-consumer rewards system scenario). Information sentbetween the consumer rewards platform 102 and the merchant-consumerrewards system 104 includes, but is not limited to, as schematicallyrepresented by the numbered lines: unsubscribe details 25; consumersthat have left the rewards program 24; consumer number change details23; rewards program number change details 22; link existing rewardsaccount details 21; consumer rewards data updates 20; changeddemographic details 19; new consumer subscriptions via consumer portal18; and new consumer subscriptions via merchant location 17. Informationsent between the card vendor system 118 and the consumer rewardsplatform 102 includes: new consumer details 1; demographic information2; consumer number change details 3; consumer unsubscribe details 4;requests for consumer reward details 5; and replies with consumerrewards details 31. There is some information which originates at thecard vendor 118 but must be received by the merchant, such as a changein consumer demographics 2 or consumer number 3, or a request by aconsumer to discontinue his/her consumer number 4. This information doesnot go directly from the card vendor 118 to the merchant-consumerrewards system 104, but first goes to the consumer rewards platform 102,where the information is updated and then forwarded to themerchant-consumer rewards system 104, for example in the next outboundEDI transmission. For example, when a consumer 106 notifies a cardvendor in the card vendor system 118 of a change of address, the cardvendor system 118 sends the information to the consumer rewards platform102 (e.g. via EDI), and the consumer rewards platform 102 updates theconsumer information stored in its own database and then sends theinformation to the appropriate merchant-consumer rewards system 104(e.g. via EDI). The card vendor may also report rewards program pointdetails to the consumer via his/her monthly card vendor statement 6.

As mentioned above and as further indicated by FIG. 2, consumers 106 maycommunicate directly with the consumer rewards platform 102 through theconsumer portal 110. Through this portal, the consumer 106 may asschematically represented by the numbered lines: login to the consumerportal 7; link existing rewards accounts 8; register for access 9; joinnew rewards programs 10; view rewards registrations 11; reset password12; change profile details 13; remove membership from a rewards program14; and unsubscribe from the entire program 32. The consumer rewardsplatform may also communicate with consumers via email, such as when thesystem sends the consumer email notifications for events 15, such asenrollment, un-enrollment, and number change verification.

In addition to the consumer portal 1107 the consumer rewards platform102 also provides a merchant portal 112. Through this website or othergraphical user interface, merchants can, as represented by the numberedlines, login with multiple user accounts 30 and view rewards programmetrics such as: the number of demographic updates that have processedfor a given time period 29; the number of consumers who have dropped outof the rewards program 28; the number of consumers who successfullyjoined the rewards program 27; and the number of new consumers for aspecific period of time 26. To access the website, the merchant willfirst be required to login to the system by entering a username andpassword. FIG. 6 illustrates a representative display of informationprovided to merchants via the merchant web portal. The metrics screendisplays graphical representations of rewards program participation. Themerchant can set the parameters of the display by selecting the type ofdisplay (bar chart, pie chart, etc.) 602, the rewards program 604, theduration of time that the data will represent 606, and the participatingcountry 608 and state 610. After clicking on the ‘submit’ button 612,the requested charts will be generated and displayed on the screen. Asrepresented in FIG. 6, a bar chart is used to represent the number ofnew consumers 614, the number of consumers linked with an existingaccount 616, the number of consumers who have dropped out of the program618, and the number of demographic changes 620. The system can beconfigured to provide other detailed data to merchants on programactivity and participation.

The foregoing describes in detail consolidated consumer rewards systemsand methods by which the loyalty or rewards or membership programs ofmultiple merchants can be accessed and used by a consumer with a singletransaction vehicle. Consumer enrollment in a program is completelyautomated. Integration of consolidated rewards accounting with paymentsystems such as credit cards enables the payment instrument to triggerthe corresponding consumer reward for a purchase in a merchant's rewardprogram. The systems and methods can accommodate multiple merchants withmultiple different types of rewards and loyalty programs, and administerchanges to the programs. Consumers can access and use the system via theinternet, to enroll, to select or de-select merchants for programparticipation, change their profile information, and browse programinformation. Merchants can also access and use the system via theinternet, to change the rules or terms of their programs, and to monitorconsumer activity, usage and effectiveness of their programs.

1. A consolidated consumer rewards system for administration of multipleconsumer reward programs of multiple merchants, the consolidatedconsumer rewards system comprising: a consumer rewards platformconfigured and programmed to maintain multiple consumer numbers whichare used to enroll multiple consumers in multiple consumer rewardsprograms and account for all purchasing activity which affects any ofthe multiple consumer rewards programs; the consumer rewards platformoperatively connected to multiple merchant-consumer rewards platforms,the merchant-consumer rewards platforms having content which definescriteria for enrolling and rewarding consumers for purchases andmaintaining records of consumer purchasing and awards activity; a uniqueconsumer number assigned to each consumer for enrollment in the consumerrewards system, the consumer number used by the consolidated consumerrewards platform to track all enrollment and purchasing activity forprocessing by the consolidated consumer rewards system; the consumerrewards platform operatively connected to a card vendor system, the cardvendor system comprising a card vendor payment device for effecting apayment transaction for a purchase in association with a unique paymentaccount in the card vendor system, the card vendor system maintaining alink between the unique consumer number and the card vendor paymentdevice, the unique consumer number being associated with the card vendorpayment device and the associated unique payment account so that eachtime the card vendor payment device is used with one of the multiplemerchants the payment transaction is associated with the unique consumernumber; whereby multiple consumers are each assigned a unique consumernumber in the consumer rewards system and enrolled in multiple consumerrewards programs and receive rewards from each of the consumer rewardsprogram of each of the multiple merchants by transfer of information onconsumer activity from the multiple merchant consumer rewards platformsto the consolidated consumer rewards platform, the information beingreferenced to the corresponding consumer numbers for the consumeractivity, whereby the data content of the consolidated consumer rewardsplatform is altered by the information received from the multiplemerchant-consumer rewards platforms and can be accessed by use of theunique consumer numbers.
 2. The consolidated consumer rewards system ofclaim 1 wherein the consolidated consumer rewards platform includes aconsumer rewards database which contains consumer numbers and recordsfor each consumer number pertaining to each consumer rewards program. 3.The consolidated consumer rewards system of claim 1 wherein the consumerrewards platform is configured to be accessed by consumers via aconsumer portal network connection whereby a consumer can inputinformation pertaining to consumer rewards programs.
 4. The consolidatedconsumer rewards system of claim 1 wherein the consumer rewards platformis configured to be accessed by merchants via a merchant portal networkconnection whereby a merchant can access and input informationpertaining to consumer rewards programs.
 5. The consolidated consumerrewards system of claim 1 wherein the consumer rewards platform isconfigured and operative to automatically enroll consumers in consumerrewards programs by linking the consumer number of a consumer to aconsumer reward program of a merchant selected by the consumer.
 6. Theconsolidated consumer rewards system of claim 1 wherein the card vendorsystem is configured and operative to automatically update the consumerrewards platform with any new demographic information for consumersparticipating in one or more merchant rewards programs.
 7. Theconsolidated consumer rewards system of claim 3 wherein the consumerportal is in the form of a website with one or more web pages whichpresent to a consumer information on multiple consumer rewards programs.8. The consolidated consumer rewards system of claim 4 wherein themerchant portal is in the form of a website with one or more pages whichpresent to a merchant information on enrollment and purchasing activityof consumers enrolled in the merchant's consumer rewards program.
 9. Theconsolidated consumer rewards system of claim 7 wherein the consumerportal is configured to interact with the consumer rewards platform toenable and perform any of the functions selected from the group of:enrolling in the consumer rewards system and acquiring a consumer numberfor use with and by the consumer rewards program; enrolling in one ormore consumer rewards programs; viewing information pertaining to one ormore consumer rewards programs; establishing links between two or moreconsumer rewards programs; inputting or editing consumer demographicinformation; un-enrolling from a consumer rewards program; receiving amessage from a consumer rewards program.
 10. The consolidated consumerrewards system of claim 1 wherein the merchant portal is configured tointeract with the consolidated consumer rewards platform to enableaccess to information on consumers enrolled in a merchant's consumerreward program through the consolidated consumer rewards system.
 11. Theconsolidated consumer rewards system of claim 10 wherein information onconsumers enrolled in a merchant's consumer rewards program is accessedvia the merchant portal to the consolidated consumer rewards platform byuse of consumer numbers.
 12. The consolidated consumer rewards system ofclaim 1 wherein the consumer rewards platform is operatively connectedto the merchants consumer reward platform to send data to themerchant-consumer reward platform selected from the group of:information from the consumer rewards platform on consumers enrolled orun-enrolled in a merchant's consumer rewards program through theconsolidated consumer rewards system, including consumer numbersassigned by the consumer rewards platform; new information pertaining toconsumers previously enrolled in a merchant's consumer rewards program;whereby data content of the merchant-consumer rewards platform isaltered by the data received from the consumer rewards platform.
 13. Theconsolidated consumer rewards system of claim 1 wherein the consumerrewards platform is operatively connected to multiple merchant consumerrewards platforms to receive data from the merchant-consumer rewardssystem selected from the group of: enrollment by a consumer in amerchant's consumer reward program; information pertaining to consumersalready enrolled in a merchant's consumer rewards program; informationpertaining to a merchant's consumer rewards program; informationpertaining to consumer transactions with a merchant which affectconsumer rewards from a merchant's consumer rewards program for eachconsumer number, whereby data content of the consolidated consumerrewards platform is altered by the data received from the merchantconsumer rewards platform.
 14. The consolidated consumer rewards programof claim 1 wherein the consumer rewards platform is operativelyconnected to the card vendor system to send consumer rewards pointdetails to the card vendor system.
 15. The consolidated consumer rewardssystem of claim 1 wherein the consumer rewards platform is operativelyconnected to the card vendor system to receive data from the card vendorsystem selected from the group of: new consumer details; card numberchange details; consumer unsubscribe details; and requests for consumerrewards details.
 16. The consolidated consumer rewards system of claim 1wherein the card vendor system is configured and operative to provideparticipating consumers with rewards point details as part of theconsumer's vendor card statement.
 17. The consolidated consumer rewardsprogram of claim 1 wherein the unique consumer number is in the form ofdata on a device which is used as a data transfer device in connectionwith a consumer transaction with a merchant.
 18. A consolidated consumerrewards system for administration of multiple consumer reward programsof multiple merchants, the consolidated consumer rewards systemcomprising: a consumer rewards platform configured and programmed tomaintain multiple consumer numbers which are used to enroll multipleconsumers in multiple consumer rewards programs and account for allconsumer activity which affects any of the multiple consumer rewardsprograms; the consumer rewards platform operatively connected tomultiple merchant-consumer rewards platforms, the merchant-consumerrewards platforms having content which defines criteria for enrollingand rewarding consumers for purchases and maintaining records ofconsumer and awards activity; a unique consumer number assigned to eachconsumer for enrollment in the consumer rewards system, the consumernumber used by the consumer rewards platform to track all purchasingactivity for processing by the consolidated consumer rewards system; theconsumer rewards platform operatively connected to a card vendor system,the card vendor system comprising a card vendor payment device foreffecting a payment transaction for a purchase in association with aunique payment account in the card vendor system; whereby, multipleconsumers are each assigned a unique consumer number in the consumerrewards platform and the unique consumer number is linked to theconsumer's card vendor payment device so that each time the card vendorpayment device is used for payment to a merchant, the paymenttransaction is associated with the consumer's merchant rewards accountby the merchant sending payment transaction information to the consumerrewards platform and altering the consumer rewards point totals for theunique consumer number in the consumer rewards platform.
 19. Theconsolidated consumer rewards system of claim 18 wherein theconsolidated consumer rewards platform includes a consumer rewardsdatabase which contains consumer numbers and records for each consumernumber pertaining to each consumer rewards program.
 20. The consolidatedconsumer rewards system of claim 18 wherein the consumer rewardsplatform is configured to be accessed by consumers via a consumer portalnetwork connection whereby a consumer can input information pertainingto consumer rewards programs.
 21. The consolidated consumer rewardssystem of claim 18 wherein the consumer rewards platform is configuredto be accessed by merchants via a merchant portal network connectionwhereby a merchant can access and input information pertaining toconsumer rewards programs.
 22. The consolidated consumer rewards systemof claim 18 wherein the consumer rewards platform is configured andoperative to automatically enroll consumers in consumer rewards programsby linking the consumer number of a consumer to a consumer rewardprogram of a merchant selected by the consumer.
 23. The consolidatedconsumer rewards system of claim 18 wherein the card vendor system isconfigured and operative to automatically update the consumer rewardsplatform with any new demographic information for consumersparticipating in one or more merchant rewards programs.
 24. Theconsolidated consumer rewards system of claim 20 wherein the consumerportal is in the form of a website with one or more web pages whichpresent to a consumer information on multiple consumer rewards programs.25. The consolidated consumer rewards system of claim 21 wherein themerchant portal is in the form of a website with one or more pages whichpresent to a merchant information on enrollment and purchasing activityof consumers enrolled in the merchant's consumer rewards program. 26.The consolidated consumer rewards system of claim 24 wherein theconsumer portal is configured to interact with the consumer rewardsplatform to enable and perform any of the functions selected from thegroup of: enrolling in the consumer rewards system and acquiring aconsumer number for use with and by the consumer rewards program;enrolling in one or more consumer rewards programs; viewing informationpertaining to one or more consumer rewards programs; establishing linksbetween two or more consumer rewards programs; inputting or editingconsumer demographic information; un-enrolling from a consumer rewardsprogram; receiving a message from a consumer rewards program.
 27. Theconsolidated consumer rewards system of claim 18 wherein the merchantportal is configured to interact with the consolidated consumer rewardsplatform to enable access to information on consumers enrolled in amerchant's consumer reward program through the consolidated consumerrewards system.
 28. The consolidated consumer rewards system of claim 27wherein information on consumers enrolled in a merchant's consumerrewards program is accessed via the merchant portal to the consolidatedconsumer rewards platform by use of consumer numbers.
 29. Theconsolidated consumer rewards system of claim 18 wherein the consumerrewards platform is operatively connected to the merchants consumerreward platform to send data to the merchant-consumer reward platformselected from the group of: information from the consumer rewardsplatform on consumers enrolled or un-enrolled in a merchant's consumerrewards program through the consolidated consumer rewards system,including consumer numbers assigned by the consumer rewards platform;new information pertaining to consumers previously enrolled in amerchant's consumer rewards program; whereby data content of themerchant-consumer rewards platform is altered by the data received fromthe consumer rewards platform.
 30. The consolidated consumer rewardssystem of claim 18 wherein the consumer rewards platform is operativelyconnected to multiple merchant consumer rewards platforms to receivedata from the merchant-consumer rewards system selected from the groupof: enrollment by a consumer in a merchant's consumer reward program;information pertaining to consumers already enrolled in a merchant'sconsumer rewards program; information pertaining to a merchant'sconsumer rewards program; information pertaining to consumertransactions with a merchant which affect consumer rewards from amerchant's consumer rewards program for each consumer number, wherebydata content of the consolidated consumer rewards platform is altered bythe data received from the merchant consumer rewards platform.
 31. Theconsolidated consumer rewards program of claim 18 wherein the consumerrewards platform is operatively connected to the card vendor system tosend consumer rewards point details to the card vendor system.
 32. Theconsolidated consumer rewards system of claim 18 wherein the consumerrewards platform is operatively connected to the card vendor system toreceive data from the card vendor system selected from the group of: newconsumer details; consumer number change details; consumer unsubscribedetails; and requests for consumer rewards details.
 33. The consolidatedconsumer rewards system of claim 18 wherein the card vendor system isconfigured and operative to provide participating consumers with rewardspoint details as part of the consumer's vendor card statement.
 34. Theconsolidated consumer rewards program of claim 18 wherein the uniqueconsumer number is in the form of data on a device which is used as adata transfer device in connection with a consumer transaction with amerchant.
 35. A method for the administration of multiple consumerrewards programs of multiple merchants comprising the following steps:configuring a consumer rewards platform to maintain multiple consumernumbers which are used to enroll multiple consumers in multiple consumerrewards programs and account for all consumer activity which affects anyof the multiple consumer rewards programs; connecting the consumerrewards platform to multiple merchant-consumer rewards platforms, themerchant-consumer rewards platforms having content which definescriteria for enrolling and rewarding consumers for purchases andmaintaining records of consumer and awards activity; assigning a uniqueconsumer number to each consumer for enrollment in the consumer rewardssystem, the consumer number being used by the consumer rewards platformto track all purchasing activity for processing by the consolidatedconsumer rewards system; operatively connecting the consumer rewardsplatform to a card vendor system, the card vendor system comprising acard vendor payment device for effecting a payment transaction for apurchase in association with a unique payment account in the card vendorsystem; whereby multiple consumers are each assigned a unique consumernumber in the consumer rewards platform and this unique consumer numberis linked to the consumer's card vendor payment device so that each timethe card vendor payment device is used for payment to a merchant, thepayment transaction is associated with the consumer's merchant rewardsaccount by the merchant sending the payment transaction to the consumerrewards platform and altering the consumer rewards point totals for theunique consumer number in the consumer rewards platform.
 36. Theconsolidated consumer rewards method of claim 35 wherein theconsolidated consumer rewards platform includes a consumer rewardsdatabase which contains consumer numbers and records for each consumernumber pertaining to each consumer rewards program.
 37. The consolidatedconsumer rewards method of claim 35 wherein the consumer rewardsplatform is configured to be accessed by consumers via a consumer portalnetwork connection whereby a consumer can input information pertainingto the consumer rewards programs or any merchant.
 38. The consolidatedconsumer rewards method of claim 35 wherein the consumer rewardsplatform is configured to be accessed by merchants via a merchant portalnetwork connection to the consumer rewards platform whereby a merchantcan access and input information pertaining to a consumer rewardsprograms.
 39. The consolidated consumer rewards method of claim 35wherein the consumer rewards platform is configured and operative toautomatically enroll consumers in consumer rewards programs by linkingthe consumer number of a consumer to a consumer reward program of amerchant selected by the consumer.
 40. The consolidated consumer rewardsmethod of claim 35 wherein the card vendor system is configured andoperative to automatically update the consumer rewards platform withdemographic information of consumers participating in one or moremerchant consumer rewards programs.
 41. The consolidated consumerrewards method of claim 37 wherein the consumer portal is in the form ofa website with one or more web pages which present to a consumerinformation on multiple consumer rewards programs when accessed by aconsuner via the consumer portal.
 42. The consolidated consumer rewardsmethod of claim 38 wherein the merchant portal is in the form of awebsite with one or more pages which present to a merchant informationon enrollment and purchasing activity of consumers enrolled in themerchant's consumer rewards program.
 43. The consolidated consumerrewards method of claim 41 wherein the consumer portal is configured tointeract with the consumer rewards platform to enable and perform any ofthe functions selected from the group of: enrolling in the consumerrewards system and acquiring a consumer number for use with and by theconsumer rewards program; enrolling in one or more consumer rewardsprograms; viewing information pertaining to one or more consumer rewardsprograms; establishing links between two or more consumer rewardsprograms; inputting or editing consumer demographic information;un-enrolling from a consumer rewards program; receiving a message from aconsumer rewards program.
 44. The consolidated consumer rewards methodof claim 35 wherein the merchant portal is configured to interact withthe consolidated consumer rewards platform to enable access toinformation on consumers enrolled in a merchant's consumer rewardprogram through the consolidated consumer rewards system.
 45. Theconsolidated consumer rewards method of claim 44 wherein information onconsumers enrolled in a merchant's consumer rewards program is accessedvia the merchant portal to the consolidated consumer rewards platform byuse of consumer numbers.
 46. The consolidated consumer rewards method ofclaim 35 wherein the consumer rewards platform is operatively connectedto the merchants consumer reward platform to send data to themerchant-consumer reward platform selected from the group of:information from the consumer rewards platform on consumers enrolled orun-enrolled in a merchant's consumer rewards program through theconsolidated consumer rewards system, including consumer numbersassigned by the consumer rewards platform; new information pertaining toconsumers previously enrolled in a merchant's consumer rewards program;links between two or more consumers enrolled in the consolidatedconsumer rewards system; whereby data content of the merchant-consumerrewards platform is altered by the data received from the consumerrewards platform.
 47. The consolidated consumer rewards method of claim35 wherein the consumer rewards platform is operatively connected tomultiple merchant consumer rewards platforms to receive data from themerchant-consumer rewards system selected from the group of: enrollmentby a consumer in a merchant's consumer reward program; informationpertaining to consumers already enrolled in a merchant's consumerrewards program; information pertaining to a merchant's consumer rewardsprogram; information pertaining to consumer transactions with a merchantwhich affect consumer rewards from a merchant's consumer rewards programfor each consumer number, whereby data content of the consolidatedconsumer rewards platform is altered by the data received from themerchant consumer rewards platform.
 48. The consolidated consumerrewards method of claim 35 wherein the consumer rewards platform isoperatively connected to the card vendor system to send consumer rewardspoint details to the card vendor system.
 49. The consolidated consumerrewards method of claim 35 wherein the consumer rewards platform isoperatively connected to the card vendor system to receive data from thecard vendor system selected from the group of: new consumer details;card number change details; consumer unsubscribe details; and requestsfor consumer rewards details.
 50. The consolidated consumer rewardsmethod of claim 35 wherein the card vendor system is configured andoperative to provide participating consumers with rewards point detailsas part of the consumer's vendor card statement.
 51. The consolidatedconsumer rewards method of claim 35 wherein the unique consumer numberis in the form of data on a device which is used as a data transferdevice in connection with a consumer transaction with a merchant.